SABAH POLLS: GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT, LEADERSHIP SERVE AS ‘COMPASS’ FOR UNDI18 GROUP

By Fadzli Ramli

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- Issues related to Sabah’s governance, development and responsible leadership are expected to serve as a “compass” for 18-year-old voters in determining their support when the people go out to cast their ballots for the 17th Sabah State Election on Saturday (Nov 29).

Any candidate or party that is able to properly address these issues will most likely get the votes from the Undi18 group this time.

This is the first Sabah state election for youth voters since the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 involving Undi18 was gazetted and came into force on Dec 15, 2021, which among others automatically registered them as voters.

Although they serve as key benchmarks, 18-year-old voters place different ‘rankings’ on issues related to Sabah’s governance, development and responsible leadership in the five districts of Sabah influenced by their needs, environment and living conditions.

The areas are the West Coast (Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuaran); Interior (Beaufort, Keningau, Kuala Penyu, Membakut, Nabawan, Sipitang, Sook, Tambunan and Tenom); Kudat ( (Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas); Sandakan (Sandakan, Beluran, Kinabatangan, Paitan, Telupid and Tongod); and Tawau (Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna).

Dr Amy Azuan Abdullah, the senior lecturer at the Centre for the Advancement of Knowledge and Language (PPIB) at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), said these were the findings from a study conducted by the centre involving 18-year-old respondents voting for the first time.

He said youths in Sabah’s West Coast have a higher inclination towards governance and integrity issues compared to other divisions due to wider access to mass media, education and public information, as well as a higher level of political literacy among youths among urban youths

“Their assessment of institutions is more objective and performance-based, with a balance between criticism and trust. However, primordial sentiments (identity-based loyalty) and rent-seeking (using influence for advantage) still exist as challenges,” he said.

Amy Azuan said youths in the Interior divisions only showed a moderate perception towards issues of governance and integrity, but placed limited access to basic services and uneven development as their main concern.

“This is partly because they have limited access to basic services and development that are needed. The power structure also shows that they rely on personal relationships or dependence on leaders rather than institutional efficiency,” he said.

According to him, as for Kudat, the trust of young voters is more dependent on individual leadership than institutions, with governance assessment being personalistic and rather than systemic.

Amy Azuan said Tawau has a complex and layered political and demographic structure. As such, the main issues are the influence of identity politics and the existenec of patron-client system or unequal bilateral relationships, with perceptions depending on political figures and not institutions.

Meanwhile, in Sandakan, he said the main issue involves the implementation of development projects, the imbalance in the distribution of resources and economic opportunities, experiences with bureaucracy and abuse of power, as well as the absence of effective complaint channels.

“This study shows that there are significant differences in the perceptions of Sabah Undi18 youths towards corruption and governance according to locality. Youth perceptions are also greatly influenced by the level of development, local political context and identity sentiment.

“As such, a local, inclusive and responsive policy approach is extremely crucial to building political trust and strengthening governance in Sabah,” he said.

UMS senior lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Assoc Prof Dr Ramli Dollah said that despite the young voters actively commenting and debating these issues, especially on social media, he is worried that many from this group won’t turn out to vote in the state election this time.

“There is a possibility that many youth voters may not turn out (to vote) due to several factors, including the timing of the election, which coincides with convocations (UMS on Nov 28), the short holidays, and being ‘too tired’of Sabah’s prolonged political instability,” he said.

As such, he said the candidates and parties contesting this time must not only campaign to attract their support, but, more importantly, strive to woo these youth voters to fulfil their responsibility by going out to vote.

“We often hear about youth voters being the deciding factor, but how can that be if they do not go out to vote. We will face an unhealthy democratic situation if this happens,” he said.

The 17th Sabah State Election will see 126,979 voters aged between 18 and 20 out of the overall 1,784,843 voters in Sabah.

Polling day has been set for Saturday (Nov 29).

For the latest updates on the state polls, visit https://prn.bernama.com/sabah/index.php

-- BERNAMA